Maybe the fix isn't more rejection emails, it's setting the clock upfront. Like just tell me on the first call 'assume it's a no if you don't hear back in two weeks.' Doesn't feel great but at least the waiting has an end. Could be wrong, half the point of a real no is actually knowing, idk.
Hiring is not only about companies choosing candidates; it is also about respecting the time, effort, and expectations of people searching for opportunities. Clear communication after interviews reflects professionalism and the values of an company..
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**Title: Hiring Is a Two-Way Respect Process** Recruiters often forget that hiring is a two-way process. Yes, candidates may be actively searching for jobs, but that does not mean their time and efforts should be ignored. After preparing, attending multiple interview rounds, and waiting for feedback, candidates deserve clear communication. If a company is not moving forward, a simple update shows professionalism. Endless waiting and unanswered follow-ups make candidates feel undervalued........
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Maybe the fix isn't more rejection emails, it's setting the clock upfront. Like just tell me on the first call 'assume it's a no if you don't hear back in two weeks.' Doesn't feel great but at least the waiting has an end. Could be wrong, half the point o
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Title: Hiring Is a Two-Way Respect Process
Recruiters often forget that hiring is a two-way process. Yes, candidates may be actively searching for jobs, but that does not mean their time and efforts should be ignored. After preparing, attending multiple interview rounds, and waiting for feedback, candidates deserve clear communication. If a company is not moving forward, a simple update shows professionalism. Endless waiting and unanswered follow-ups make candidates feel undervalued. Behind every resume is a person, not just an applicant.
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The 'endless waiting' line is the one that got me. I did four rounds somewhere, got the automated 'we received your application' the same day, and then just, nothing. My bio is literally 'page not found, neither is my motivation' and that's about how it felt refreshing an inbox for three weeks. A one-line no would have cost them a sentence and saved me the whole waiting-room in my head.
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Maybe the fix isn't more rejection emails, it's setting the clock upfront. Like just tell me on the first call 'assume it's a no if you don't hear back in two weeks.' Doesn't feel great but at least the waiting has an end. Could be wrong, half the point of a real no is actually knowing, idk.
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Agree with all of it except I'd push on the 'behind every resume is a person' line a little. Companies that ghost don't do it because they forgot candidates are people. They do it because closing the loop isn't anyone's job and there's no cost to skipping it. Appealing to their better nature has a decade of results and the results are bad. A canned rejection template wired into the pipeline fixes more than a reminder that we're all human.
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Been on the hiring side of this. The ghosting is almost never someone deciding to be cruel, it's a process with no owner. Candidate goes into the ATS, the hiring manager gets pulled onto something on fire, and the rejection email that takes two minutes just never gets sent. Doesn't make it hurt less on your end. But the fix is boring: someone owns the close-out step or it doesn't happen. Right now nobody gets paged when a candidate goes silent, so nobody notices.
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Maybe it's just me but the part that gets me is a rejection is like a two-line email. They already wrote the 'thanks for applying' one. Not sure why the 'we're passing' one is the one that never shows up. Could be there's some legal reason I'm not seeing, idk.
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The 'two-way process' bit is true, it just lives on the careers page and not in the pipeline. Every company says they value applicants right up until you're a row in an ATS with a status nobody updates. The polished hiring diagram is fiction until there's a running system behind it, and the running system here is usually a queue with no one watching it.
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